The first smartphone running the new OS is the full-touch-screen BlackBerry Z10, which is now available in the U.S. and some other markets. The second device, the BlackBerry Q10, is launching soon. Preorders for the Q10, which has a physical keyboard like many traditional Blackberry devices, started in Canada this week.

The Wall Street Journal spoke with BlackBerry Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben, who was in Hong Kong this week for the local launch of the BlackBerry Z10. Here is the edited interview:

WSJ: Why did BlackBerry’s market share decline so sharply in the past few years?

Mr. Boulben: In the last couple of years, two trends emerged much more rapidly than we had anticipated. One is the deployment of fourth-generation mobile networks, especially in the U.S. but also everywhere. Secondly, the penetration of full-touch devices, pretty much everywhere around the world. Given those trends and the fact that our BlackBerry operating system had been in the market for about 10 years, we had two options – either to become a licensee of Android or Windows mobile operating systems, or to build a new operating system of our own. And we decided to go with the latter option.

WSJ: Other than the Z10 and Q10, what other products are you planning to launch this year?

Mr. Boulben: By the end of the year we will have six BlackBerry 10 devices, including the Z10 and Q10, and we will be covering all price ranges from the high-end to the mid-range and the entry level. Like we are doing with the Z10 and Q10 for the high end, we will have a full-touch device and a keyboard device for other price ranges.

What’s important is that, whether you are at the entry level, mid-range or high end, it will be the same software experience and the same apps will be available. We have now more than 100,000 apps available. We are very much convinced that we are on the right track.

WSJ: China is the world’s biggest smartphone market, but BlackBerry’s presence is very small there.

Mr. Boulben: We are investing more in China. We have a development team in China, and we are working with local app developers to make sure BlackBerry 10 will offer compelling experience for the Chinese market. We cannot say when exactly we will launch BlackBerry 10 devices in China, but when we do, we will have a substantial marketing campaign. We expect it to be bigger than any other marketing campaigns we’ve had in China in the past.

Mr. Boulben: Telecom carriers want us to be successful, because they want a third ecosystem. They want more diversity. We have iOS and Android, but the first one has only one player to start with, and the second one, if you look at the concentration in terms of market share, it’s being dominated by one handset vendor. Carriers want an alternative ecosystem because they know that each ecosystem has a tendency to become dominated by one player over time.

WSJ: Samsung and Apple are spending a lot on marketing. Are you trying to match that?

Mr. Boulben: We have a very healthy balance sheet with no debt. And we have $2.9 billion of cash available. So we do have the means to invest in marketing. This quarter, we plan to invest 50% more on marketing that we did last quarter. But at the same time, we have an operating system that is already differentiated. When you have differentiation you don’t need to compete only on marketing.

WSJ: In the entry-level segment, there is intense price competition. What’s your strategy?

Mr. Boulben: Even in the entry-level market segment, we are not competing purely on price. None of the other players will be offering the same thing as we do with BlackBerry 10. With that differentiated experience, we very much believe that we can compete in every segment from high-end to entry level.

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Canada Real Time provides insight and analysis into what’s making news in Canada, a country punching above its weight on the world stage thanks to its vast resources and strong banking sector. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, we take a look at developments in fields ranging from business to politics to culture. You can contact the editors at canadaeditors@dowjones.com